Union Electric Co. of Missouri

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsAug 8, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 229 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

in the Matter of UNION ELECTRIC COMPANY OF MISSOURI AND UNION ELECTRIC COMPANY OF ILLINOIS and INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPER- ATING ENGINEERS , STATIONARY ENGINEERS LOCAL UNION No. 148 In the Matter of UNION ELECTRIC COMPANY OF MISSOURI and TRI- STATE UTILITY `YORKERS UNION In the M tter of THE ST. LOUIS COUNTY GAS COMPANY'and INTERNA- TIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS , STATIONARY ENGINEERS LOCAL UNION No. 148 Cases Nos. R-0543 through R-2545, respectively SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND AMENDED CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES August 8, 1945 On June 27, 1941, the National Labor Relations Board issued a De- cision and Direction of Elections 1 in the above-entitled proceedings, wherein it found six separate bargaining units appropriate for em- ployees of Union Electric Company of Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri, and its subsidiaries, Union Electric Company of Illinois'and The St. Louis County Gas Company, herein called the Companies. One unit includes all sales, clerical, and office employees of the Companies in a system-wide unit; five separate units include production and main- tenance employees at the Osage, Cahokia, Venice, and Ashley steam electric generating plants of Union Electric Company of Missouri and Union Electric Company of Illinois, respectively; and the sixth unit includes production and maintenance employees at the water-gas man- ufacturing plant and the gas-distribution department of The St. Louis County Gas Company. On August 27, 1941, the Board issued a Cer- tification of Representatives, in which it certified International Union of Operating Engineers, Stationary Engineers Local Union No. 148, herein called the Engineers, as sole bargaining representative of pro- duction and maintenance employees at the Osage, Cahokia, and Venice plants, respectively, and of employees in the water-gas manufacturing plant and the gas-distribution department of The St. Louis County ' See Mattes of Union Electric Company of Missouri, et al, 33 N . L R. B 1. 63 N. L R B, No 33. 229 230 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Gas Company. The Board also certified Tri-State Utility Workers. Union, herein called Tri-State, as exclusive bargaining representative. of sales, clerical, and office employees of the Companies in a system- wide unit, and of production and maintenance employees at the Ashley plant. In October 1942, a work stoppage occurred in the storeroom of the Cahokia plant, at Monsanto, Illinois, operated by Union Electric Company of Illinois, herein called the Company, due to a jurisdic- tional dispute between the Engineers and Tri-State concerning senior and junior stock clerks and an assistant storekeeper, working therein. The Engineers contended that these employees were part of the pro- duction and maintenance unit, and Tri-State, that they were part of the clerical unit. For assistance in settling the dispute, the Company appealed to the Director of Conciliation in the Department of Labor. Being unable to resolve the issue, the Conciliator certified the dispute, to the War Labor Board and, on April 7, 1944, the Regional War- Labor Board issued a directive order, providing that, for the duration of the existing contract between the Company and the Engineers, the- five storeroom' employees involved in the dispute should be consid- ered a part of the production and maintenance unit of employees at the Cahokia plant represented by the Engineers. Upon termination of the contract between the Company and the Engineers covering production and maintenance employees at the, Cahokia plant, the Company filed a motion for clarification of the scope of the units previously found appropriate by the Board to de- termine the jurisdictional dispute between the Engineers and Tri- State. On July 4, 1945, the Board, having duly considered the matter, issued an order to show cause on or before July 16, 1945, why the Board should not amend its certification covering production and' maintenance employees at the Cahokia plant by specifically excluding therefrom junior and senior stock clerks and assistant storekeepers. On July 10, 1945, the Company acknowledged the receipt of the' Board's order and stated that the choice of the bargaining representa- tive for employees in dispute was not a matter of concern to the Com- pany, but that the Company wished the dispute settled. On July 9,. 1945, Tri-State made its return, requesting that the Board amend the certification as suggested by the order. On July 16, 1945, the Engineers filed its return, contending that the clerical employees in, dispute were properly part of the production and maintenance unit and should not be included in the unit with office and other clerical workers. The Board has considered the motion of the Company for clarifica-- tion and the positions of the two labor organizations involved. We- note that in setting up the units appropriate for production and main- UNION ELECTRIC COMPANY 'OF MISSOURI 231 tenance employees at the several generating plants of the Companies, we have used different language in excluding from the unit employees who are generally classed as clerical workers. From the production and maintenance unit at the Osage plant , we excluded "clerks and -office employees" ; at the Venice plant, we excluded "stores clerks and clerks"; at the Ashley plant, we excluded "clerks"; and at the water- gas manufacturing plant and the gas -distribution department, we excluded "clerks, estimators , meter readers , and office employees." In finding the unit appropriate for production and maintenance em- ployees of the Company at the Cahokia plant, we excluded "all clerks." In excluding clerical employees from these several bargain- ing units, we did hot intend to include in one unit categories of em- ployees doing similar work which we had specifically excluded from other like units. In the stores or warehouse department , where senior and junior stock clerks and the assistant storekeepers work, there are laborers whose principal duty is the physical handling of the Corn- pany's materials. The employees concerned in the dispute differ from these laborers, in that they are qualified by education and training not only to handle special materials with appropriate care, but to keep all necessary and usual warehouse records of the material handled, ordered, and released in the department. Since we specifically ex- cluded "stores clerks" from the bargaining unit at the Venice plant and the employees in dispute are in the same general category of employ- ment, and the Engineers has not shown sufficient cause why we should not amend , we shall amend our certification concerning production and maintenance employees at the Cahokia plant to show that junior and senior stock clerks and assistant storekeepers are specifically excluded from the production and maintenance unit. AMENDED CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor. Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that International Union of Operating Engi- neers, Stationary Engineers Local Union No. 148, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, has been designated and selected by a majority of all production and maintenance employees at the Cahokia steam electric generating plant of Union Electric Company of Illi- nois, St. Louis, Missouri , excluding superintendents , assistant superintendents , foremen , assistant foremen, boiler -room operators, turbine-room operators , other employees occupying supervisory posi- tions, engineers , assistant engineers , technical engineers , assistant technical engineers , laboratory and testing engineers , inspectors, sani- 232 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD tary and safety inspectors, chemists, statistical stenographers, senior- and junior stock clerks, assistant storekeepers, and all other clerks, as their representative for the purposes of collective bargaining and that, pursuant to Section 9 (a) of the Act, International Union of Operating Engineers, Stationary Engineers Local Union No. 148,, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is the exclusive rep-- resentative of all such employees, for the purposes of collective bar- gaining, in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment.